Space quest for perfect protein crystal

A protein derived from a deadly toxin found in castor beans floated in space aboard the shuttle Columbia last week, as part of an experiment that could lead to new treatments for diabetes, arthritis and other diseases. Scientists hope that the protein, unhampered by gravity, will form more perfect crystals than it does on Earth. The crystals should help them to understand the structure of the protein and subsequently design better versions of a class of drugs known as immunotoxins.

The castor-bean derivative, known as recombinant ricin A chain, is one of 34 proteins grown on Columbia by Lawrence DeLucas, a protein crystallographer from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Researchers can determine the structure of molecules by looking at the X-ray diffraction patterns produced by crystals. On Earth, gravity causes the crystals to deform as they settle. 'The main problem that plagues all these biological crystals is molecular disorder,' ...

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